Related papers: Air showers, hadronic models, and muon production
The aim of the Pierre Auger Observatory is the investigation of the nature of cosmic ray particles at ultra-high energies. It can simultaneously observe the longitudinal air shower development in the atmosphere as well as particle densities…
We present a fast one dimensional hybrid method to efficiently simulate extensive air showers up to the highest observed energies. Based on precalculated pion showers and a bootstrap technique, our method predicts the average shower…
We develop a potential algorithm to relate the depth development of ultra high energy extensive air showers and the time delay for individual muons. The time distributions sampled at different positions at ground level by a large air shower…
Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays with energies above ~ 10^18 eV provide an unique window to study hadronic interactions at energies well above those achieved in the largest man-made accelerators. We argue that at those energies string…
We study the dependence of extensive air shower development on the first hadronic interactions at ultra-high energies occurring in the startup phase of the air shower cascade. The interpretation of standard air shower observables depends on…
The physics content of the QGSJET-III Monte Carlo model of high energy hadronic interactions is briefly described. The predictions of the model for extensive air shower characteristics are presented in comparison to the corresponding…
Studies of the influence of different hadronic models on extensive air showers at ultra-high energies are presented. The hadronic models considered are those implemented in the well-known QGSJET and SIBYLL event generators. The different…
We demonstrate that a substantial part of the present uncertainties in model predictions for the average maximum depth of cosmic ray-induced extensive air showers is related to very high energy pion-air collisions. Our analysis shows that…
We propose a novel approach for the determination of the nature of ultra-high energy cosmic rays by exploiting the geomagnetic deviation of muons in nearly horizontal showers. The distribution of the muons at ground level is well described…
Extensive air showers are generated through interactions of high-energy cosmic rays impinging the Earth's atmosphere. A new method is described to infer the attenuation of hadrons in air showers. The numbers of electrons and muons,…
The energy spectrum of muons produced in air showers depends not only on the properties of the primary particle, but also on the atmosphere. This is because of the competition between decay and interaction of the parent mesons, which…
In this article we identify the key elements that govern the propagation of muons from the production in extensive air showers to ground. We describe a model based on simple assumptions that propagates the muons starting from the few…
The Pierre Auger Observatory, the world's largest observatory of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays (UHECR), offers a unique insight into the properties of hadronic interactions occurring in air showers at energies well above those reached at…
Very high energy cosmic rays are typically studied by measuring extensive air showers formed by secondary particles produced in collisions with air nuclei. The indirect character of the measurement makes the physics interpretation of cosmic…
We present a framework for the study of muon density patterns on the ground due to showers produced in the atmosphere by cosmic rays incident at high zenith angles. As a checking procedure predictions of a model based on such a framework…
The development of extensive air showers at extreme energies is studied using a simulation model much simpler and cruder, but also more transparent and flexible, than existing sophisticated codes. Evidence for its satisfactory performance…
An analytical description of the time structure of the pulses induced by muons in air showers at ground level is deduced assuming the production distance distribution for the muons can be obtained elsewhere. The results of this description…
High-energy cosmic rays are observed indirectly by detecting the extensive air showers initiated in Earth's atmosphere. The interpretation of these observations relies on accurate models of air shower physics, which is a challenge and an…
The properties of cosmic rays with energies above 10**6 GeV have to be deduced from the spacetime structure and particle content of the air showers which they initiate. In this review we summarize the phenomenology of these giant air…
The attenuation length of the muon content in extensive air showers provides important information regarding the generation and development of air showers. This information can be used not only to improve the description of such showers but…